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Coignice
Coignice was the mother of Valanice, and was the Miller's daughter. Background She was a miller's daughter. She was married to Prince Cedric. She was from eastern Kolyma, an area about which little is known. She and her husband allowed Valanice to be educated, but it is unknown if that was unusual or not. She always told Valanice not to play in the mud.Valanice (KQ7): "I don't think so! I'm not silly enough to slog through that. Besides, Mother always told me not to play in the mud." She once told her daughter a story during Valanice's childhood when she was very small, about "nectar and ambrosia". Valanice learned that nectar was sacred drink (from flowers), and that ambrosia was sacred food.KQC4E, 360 Coignice is said to be the daughter of a miller, much the same as the girl in the tale of Rumplestiltskin (if they are not the same individual). That is all that is known about Coignice.King's Quest Companion, 2nd Edition, 450 Miller's daughter There once was a miller who had a beautiful daughter--a daughter so beautiful that he pridefully thought she should be the bride for the king. One day the miller was delivering flour to the castle and, noticing the king nearby, began to to boast about his daughter. The king listened politely, but everyone tells kings that their daughters are the fairest in the universe. "Ah," invented the miller, "but my daughter can spin straw into gold!" Now this got the monarch's attention, and he commanded that the girl be brought to him. The next day the king put the poor girl in a large room full of straw and commanded her to turn it to gold. The miller's daughter didn't know what he was talking about, for her father had not told her of his lie. Angry, the king threatened her, telling her that she had till dawn to change the straw or she would be killed. Try as she could, the task was impossible. The girl could not do what her father had promised, and began to weep loudly. As she cried, a little man appeared and told her he could do the chore--if she would give him a gift. He took her necklace, turned all of the straw into gold, and then disappeared. The king was astonished, but demanded more proof of her skill. He took her to a larger room and filled it with straw, promising the same punishment if she failed. Again the little man came; this time he accepted her ring for the service and again left. When the king saw all the gold the next day, his heart did not soften towards her; instead, he filled his largest hall with straw and demanded one last magical transformation. If she succeeded, she would become his queen. This time, she had nothing to give the little man, so he demanded she give him her firstborn child in return for saving her life. She agreed, but planned never to have a child. The queen did have a child, however, and one night the little man came to claim it as his own. In tears the queen offered the man anything if he would not take her child. He replied that he would not, but only if she could guess his name within three days. For two days she guessed, but she was always wrong. In desperation, she sent her servants throughout the land to discover the little man's true identity. One was successful; he said he had discovered the man dancing and laughing by a fire. He called himself Rumplestiltskin. When he came back that night to claim the child, the queen pretended still not to know the proper name. Reaching for the baby, the little man gave her one final guess. He was so mad when she told him "Rumplestiltskin" that he stomped his foot hard enough to send him right through the floor, and he was never seen again. Titles *Mother *Miller's daughter Behind the scenes If the Miller is the same miller, and his daughter is Coignice, then the king may very well be Cedric, the former prince of Kolyma (puts a little dark mark on his past but ties many things together). In the Companions, Coignice and Cedric is an entry within the An Encyclopedia of Daventry. References category:Characters (TKQC) Category:Kolyma Category:Humans Category:Mothers Category:Peasants